The next big Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight contender fight is on.
Former two-division UFC champion, Henry Cejudo, is back again. “Triple C” revealed yesterday (Dec. 10, 2023) that he’ll compete in his second fight since coming out of a three-year retirement earlier this year (May 2023). In doing so, he’ll face the No. 2-ranked contender, Merab Dvalishvili, at UFC 298 in Anaheim, California on Feb. 17, 2024.
Cejudo’s return bout came in a title bid opposite the now-former champion, Aljamain Sterling, at UFC 288. Unfortunately for Cejudo, he lost the bout via a closely-contested split decision while Sterling went on to drop the title in his following defense against Sean O’Malley at UFC 292 in August 2023 (watch highlights). “Sugar” will keep a watchful eye on the bout as he prepares for his first title defense against old rival, Marlon “Chito” Vera, coming up at UFC 299 on March 9, 2024
“That’ll be a sweet little short fight,” O’Malley said on the TimboSugarShow. “I’m excited to see the little f—kers. That’s as close as you get to mid … little people fighting. It’s pretty sweet because they’re both so skilled and they’re both so short. It’ll be cute. It will be an interesting fight.”
There’s been no confirmation yet as to whether or not Dvalishvili vs. Cejudo will be a title eliminator. However, according to Cejudo, that will be the case as he expects to challenge O’Malley or Vera after their UFC 299 rematch.
“When I win this fight, I’m gonna be getting the winner out of O’Malley and ‘Chito’ and I still go back and I’m gonna stick to what I said. If ‘Chito’ Vera is able to have good defense, walk this dude down, make him throw and endure a lot of the pain, protect this (right) side and his body, ‘Chito’s’ gonna be in really, really good shape,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “The thing is too, can ‘Chito’ get better at cutting people off with lateral movements. We saw him with [Cory] Sandhagen where he was able to get in trouble.
“With that being said, it doesn’t matter, I’m somewhat thinking ahead,” he concluded. “Right now I have Merab, or should I say ‘Merat.’”